Monthly Archives: May 2009

After eight years of surprises, Taiwan’s top diplomat said on May 4th that his first priority is to restore mutual trust with Washington, DC. Speaking with Dr. Larry Diamond, the director of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) at Stanford University, Taiwan’s chief US representative, Jason Yuan, addressed some 50 scholars, students and political observers during his Bay Area stop.

After taking office last May, President Ma Ying-jeou worked to restore mutual trust with the US. Instead of a big splash, he kept a low profile when he made his US transit stops on his way to and from Latin American last August. In cross-strait matters, Ma has strived for rapprochement with China by resuming high-level talks between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Beijing’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS). As a result, Yuan said, Taiwan has been invited to take part in the forthcoming World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer. After trying to gain participation since 1997, Taiwan will finally be included.

In response to questions about the possibility of signing a 60-year peace treaty with China and how the island’s 23 million Taiwanese would react, Yuan said if there were to be a treaty, the first condition would be that China should remove the missiles along the Taiwan Strait – now estimated to number more than 1000. Ma doesn’t expect to see the day of unification, the peace treaty will not necessarily lead to unification or independence. The future would be decided by all of Taiwan’s people, not by any single political leader, stressed Yuan.

This is one of the latest events by the Program on Democracy in Taiwan, which is sponsored by the CDDRL, in conjunction with the Hoover Institution. Initiated in the fall of 2005, the program studies the political and social changes, and international challenges confronting democracy in Taiwan, including cross-strait relations.

Taiwan has finally been invited to participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) as an observer. On April 29th, Taiwan’s Department of Health (DOH) received an invitation from WHO Director-General Margaret Chan to attend the 62nd World Health Assembly (WHA) from May 18th-27th. In response, DOH chief Yeh Ching-chuan will lead a 15-person delegation to Geneva, Switzerland on May 17th. This will be the first time Taiwan will participate in the WHA since losing its UN membership to China in 1971.

Since 1997, Taiwan has worked hard to rally support for representation at the WHO. After 13 failed attempts, President Ma Ying-jeou attributed the victory to the joint efforts of the public and the political parties at home, and the support of the international community and the goodwill of the “mainland authorities.” In particular, Ma thanked the United States, Japan, the European Union, Southeast Asian nations, Australia and New Zealand for their help in securing participation for Taiwan.

The US State Department spokesman Robert Wood welcomed the news. “We have long supported Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the WHO, including observer status at the WHA. “ In speaking to reporter in Washington, he continued by saying, “We look forward to the participation of Taiwan at the WHA and the benefits Taiwan’s public health expertise will bring to the international community.”

On the opposite Coast, The Seattle Times headlined its May 4th editorial with “Welcome Taiwan into the World Health Assembly” and concluded by stating, “Fighting epidemics cannot be put off. It has to be done with immediacy, and the jurisdictions have to cooperate. That China and Taiwan now do so is a big step forward.” The complete editorial can be found at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2009172695_editb05taiwan.html.

As an observer in the WHA, Taiwan now will be able to maintain direct contact with the WHO to exchange information on disease control, prevention, and other health issues for the benefit of the 23 million people on the island. Early last month, Taiwan was included in the WHO’s International Health Regulation (IHR) which tracks and controls infectious diseases around the globe.

In addition to the IHR, Yang Che-ming, the director-general of the Bureau of International Cooperation under the DOH, also mentioned four other information sharing mechanisms. They include the WHO’s Food Safety Network (INFOSAN), Global Outbreak Alert Response Networks (GOARN), the Stop TB Partnership, The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the International Collaboration and Prevention Combating Counterfeit Drugs (IMPACT).

It is still too early to speculate how quickly and deeply Taiwan will be involved in WHO activities since the degree of each observer’s participation varies. “How Taiwan should take part in the WHA as an observer and to what degree will require further discussion,” Yang said. Taiwan will join six other WHA observers who can speak at the assembly, but cannot vote. They include the Holy See, the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement.

Although Taiwan’s new observer status was met with an overwhelmingly positive response on the island, Taiwan’s opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), feared that more of Taiwan’s sovereignty was traded to gain the invitation.

The DPP is concerned that the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) consulted with China for permission, per the 2005 secret memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the WHO and China, requiring all contact with Taiwan to take place through Beijing first. DPP legislator William Lai called on the government to be more forthcoming about the secret negotiations for Taiwan’s participation.

In reassuring the DPP, Vice Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia has said that “no secret deals” were made between Taiwan and China, and that Taiwan’s observer status came “without conditions.” Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHA this month will mean Taiwanese reporters will again be granted press passes to cover the activities of the WHA. Since 2002, Taiwanese reporters have been prevented from attending sessions of the WHO or WHA.

On April 26, Taiwan signed three pacts and one joint statement with China in the third round of cross-strait negotiations after President Ma ying-jeou took office last May. Meeting in Nanjing, Chiang Pin-kung represented Taiwan as the chairman of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Chen Yunlin represented China as the president of Beijing’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS). This time, the two sides forged ties to combat criminal activities, set guidelines for financial cooperation and increase direct links.

Among the three pacts was one aimed at increasing the weekly direct flights between the two sides from 108 to 270. China agreed to add six more destinations to the 21 cities it currently serves. Cargo flights will also increase from 30 per month to 112. In order to accommodate the increased number of flights, the two sides agreed to set up a new southern route between Taipei and Guangzhou, and a new northern route between Taipei and Shanghai.

In the second pact, both sides agreed to work together to maintain financial stability. They agreed to cooperate on the supervision of financial and monetary management and to begin negotiations on giving access to their respective markets by banks, stock brokers and insurance companies on each side. Analysts believe this agreement will pave the way for a memorandum of understanding on financial regulatory cooperation between Taiwan and China, which will lead to the opening of their markets to each other’s financial institutions.

The third pact outlined cooperative efforts to combat crime, with both sides agreeing to help serve judicial documents, collect evidence, and confirm each other’s civil judgments and arbitration awards. Most significantly, the two sides agreed to repatriate criminals and suspected criminals. The pact was hailed as a milestone because China has long been a haven for Taiwanese criminals in the absence of a repatriation agreement.

In the joint statement, Taiwan welcomed Chinese investment and promised to formulate regulations to facilitate this process. On its part, China agreed to support private investment in Taiwan, and to encourage Chinese enterprises to explore investment opportunities in Taiwan.

The next round of talks will be held in Taiwan before the end of the year and will include discussions on fisheries cooperation, quarantine and inspection of agricultural products, cooperation on standard operating procedures and certification, and prevention of double taxation.

When polled by the Taipei-based China Times, 44 percent of the 763 interviewees were satisfied with the results of the talks, while 22 percent were not. As for the opening of Taiwan’s market to mainland Chinese investment, 53 percent supported it, seeing it as a plus for Taiwan’s economy and 22 percent opposed it, not wanting more dependency on the mainland.

A China Times editorial, urged the government to be cautious and to take gradual steps, so it can minimize risks and protect Taiwan’s national security. It said the agreements are reached due to the fact that both sides adopted an attitude of ‘economy first, politics later’. Future talks will be much tougher when both sides have to touch on political issues.

In a video-conference at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on April 22nd, Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou urged the US to maintain the sale of defensive arms to the island in accordance to the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). He spoke during the center’s program “The Taiwan Relations Act: Turning a New Chapter” celebrating the TRA’s 30th anniversary. American scholars and political observers, including Richard Armitage, former US Deputy Secretary of the State, attended the event.

The TRA was passed by the US congress in 1979 to protect American interests in Taiwan after Washington established full diplomatic ties with Beijing. According to the Act, the sale of defensive weapons to Taiwan has been a stabilizing force in the Taiwan Strait. It has provided Taiwan with the security to build a stable democracy and a prosperous economy.

For the first time Ma proposed “a new geographic thinking” for Taiwan. He said, “Since the outset of my administration, my focus has been more on Taiwan’s geography rather than on its history.” He noted, Taiwan is located at the center of a “dense and rich network of economic powerhouses,” with the US, the world’s largest economy and sole superpower to the east, and the second, third and fifth largest economies, Japan, mainland China, and the ASEAN nations to the north, west and south respectively. Ma stressed the need for Taiwan to take full advantage of its geographic good fortune to link up with all the members of this “super economic network” for a “multifaceted win-win situation.”

To make the most of Taiwan’s geographical advantage, Ma has improved relations with China, inaugurating cross-strait direct flights, welcoming mainland Chinese tourists, and resuming high-level talks between Taipei’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its mainland counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

At the heart of his idea is the prospective creation of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taipei and Beijing. With the ECFA, Ma believes Taiwan can bolster and safeguard its competitive edge in the mainland market, and in turn, in the greater global market.

He rebutted the accusation that the proposed signing of the ECFA with Beijing would be equivalent to unification with China. “Taiwan is a democratic country. No one can betray Taiwan. In the six agreements signed between SEF and ARATS (since Ma took office), none hurts the sovereignty of Taiwan,” he said.

Since Ma’s inauguration in May 2008, Ma has taken steps to reconcile with Beijing by declaring a “diplomatic truce” and focusing on issues that have yielded real and substantial rewards. In particular, his push for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) has met with success, with China now willing to allow Taiwan observer status.

With this understanding approach to China, Ma expects to restore mutual trust and cooperation with other countries, especially the US. The future prospects of Taiwan-US relations will focus on issues of low politics with an emphasis on pragmatism.